In spite of the rain this afternoon, the fire that has been building over the housing crisis has not dampened. Organized by the National Housing and Homeless Coalition an estimated 10,000 people took place in the protest today, which began at The Garden of Remembrance and saw protesters march through O’Connell Street, past City Hall and stop at Dame St where a number of key figures in the movement addressed the crowd.

“We cannot say it’s okay when homeless people are dying on the streets," Tina McVeigh, co-chair of the National Housing and Homeless Coalition said. "We cannot say it’s okay when the traveler accommodation budget is not being spent, we cannot say it’s okay when tenants are paying extortionate rents, landlords getting 70% of your wages is not rent – that’s not an economy, that’s not work, that’s not a life, that’s slavery.”

Tina called for a minutes’ silence to be observed, marking the fourth anniversary of Jonathan Corrie’s death – a homeless man found near the Dáil on December 1^st 2014.

A strong student presence was also visible in the crowd.  Michelle Byrne, vice-president for campaigns at the USI said students were being forced to sleep in cars, in libraries, staying overnight in hostels and often unable to attend classes at all because of the housing crisis.

“Anger, fear, hopelessness - this is a student’s problem today and a student’s problem tomorrow.” she said. “We are facing spiraling costs, rogue landlords, damp, rundown and overcrowded conditions”.

“On the night of the census in 2016 8% of the people that night that were homeless were students, that was 429 students”.

At the end of the demonstration, Jane Willows sang a song in memory of her friend Kathleen who died on the streets, and solidarity came via social media from London, where people were also protesting homelessness.